FanDuel parent Flutter lists on the NYSE, challenging DraftKings as sports-betting pure play

FanDuel parent Flutter listed on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, offering U.S. investors an alternative to the biggest pure play in sports betting, DraftKings.

It’s a secondary listing for the international sportsbook, which will retain its primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and inclusion in the FTSE 100 index.

But Flutter’s most important market for revenue and growth is the United States, where FanDuel is the market share leader. In the fourth quarter, FanDuel had 43% market share based on gross revenue and 51% based on net revenue.

But while FanDuel outperforms its competitors, its biggest rival, DraftKings, grabs the headlines and spotlight in earned media as the biggest — some might argue, the only — publicly traded pure play in sports betting. Shares of DraftKings have soared more than 150% over the last 12 months and are up 9% year to date.

Flutter wants some of the glory and some of the capital for FanDuel. Its shares are trading on the NYSE under the ticker symbol FLUT.

Flutter CEO Peter Jackson put it more diplomatically on Jan. 18, saying, “The additional listing will enable us to access deeper capital markets as well as making Flutter more accessible to U.S. investors and marks a new chapter in the history of the Flutter Group.”

Jefferies believes the NYSE listing could be a short-term catalyst for Flutter. In a note published Friday, analyst James Wheatcroft assumes a 20% premium to DraftKings’ valuation, because of FanDuel’s “sustained market share outperformance,” and implies a price target of £210. Flutter is currently trading at £163 per share in London.

While DraftKings has gathered momentum since its public listing via SPAC in April 2020, hitting an all-time intraday high of $74.38 on March 22, 2021, it has lagged FanDuel in posting profits.

Other competitors have become profitable in certain quarters, though they have failed to gain significant market share. BetMGM, jointly owned by MGM Resorts International and Entain, has seen its market leader status in iGaming, or online casino games, slip, as DraftKings and FanDuel have overtaken it.

Caesars Sportsbook, Penn Entertainment’s newly relauched ESPN Bet and Michael Rubin’s Fanatics Sportsbook, headed up by former FanDuel CEO Matt King, are also intent on taking share from FanDuel and DraftKings.

Jefferies now estimates the sports betting industry at $37.5 billion total addressable market in the United States.

FanDuel CEO Amy Howe told CNBC in October at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas that the company is ready to take on its well-capitalized competition.

“We know the scale is going to matter. And we know that having the most distinctive product is going to matter,” she said.

Flutter will delist its shares from trading on the Euronext Dublin to minimize regulatory complexity, though Flutter will remain incorporated in Ireland for tax purposes, according to the company’s website. The delisting makes it ineligible for inclusion on the Euro Stoxx 50 index.

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